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January 12, 2015

A Week in Thailand!

I have been away from my blog for far too long so it is time that I update it and share some of my recent experiences. Thanksgiving 2014 for me was spent in The Philippines for the first portion and then in Thailand for the second. Each year a group of my college comrades meet up in a different location around the world to spend Thanksgiving together.

The tradition began in Singapore, Singapore in 2011, followed by Manila, Philippines 2012, Stockholm, Sweden 2013, Phuket, Thailand 2014, and this year I believe we will hitting Dubai, U.A.E. for our 5 year reunion. Time will tell if we end up choosing that place but for now lets take a look at the Thailand recap.

Mission 1… Find food!! My friends were a bit leery about walking into some hole in the wall spot especially in South East Asia where there is no guarantee that what you will eat is familiar to your taste buds but I assured them that the hole in the wall places were the best and we had to try it. Minutes later we were all being served up bowls of what I have determined to be duck and wanton soup. It was delicious as I had expected.

Mission 2… Find the temples… Done and done.

These steps are not for the faint of heart. It was more like climbing an old cement ladder than walking up steps.

On a river boat cruising up the canals.

I wanted to buy this statue but I couldn’t figure out how I would get in on the plane with me. This would look SICK in my living room. Fitting it in there is yet another issue. I digress…

Those are are some big feet! This was the famous reclining Buddha in Bangkok.

Mission 3… Meditation…

Pretty much everywhere I have been in Asia, people have randomly asked me to take pictures with them so why would I expect this time to be any different? I was either Kobe Bryant, Barack Obama, Will Smith, or Usher. Pick one. That’s who I was that day. I think this was probably the 5th picture I was asked to take with some random Asians (whom, lets be clear, I have never met nor had a conversation with in my life) in this day alone! I switched up the game though and asked them to take a picture with me. All of their faces looked surprised when I asked. I guess they figured, why would I need a picture of them? Good point. I did it anyway. 🙂

Just another epic selfie in Bangkok.

Mission 4… Feast!!!! Garlic lobster and some sort of curry chicken I believe. The below are only two pictures of the 7 different dishes we actually had. I unfortunately forgot to photograph the rest because I was busy eating it.

We arrived in Phuket and this is the sign that was waiting for us. Yes, yes, BEAST MODE in full effect.One thing I love about Thailand is that they don’t bother with waivers and release forms like they do in the states. We literally told our boat driver to take us to the ATV’s and he did. Upon arrival they started them up and handed us the keys. I had to ask the guy where the brake was because apparently that is not pertinent information for riding one of these. Seconds after this picture was taken we were racing through the jungle!

Of course we had to see the obligatory Muay Thai fight. This was the first time I was actually able to sit front row at a boxing match. I quite literally had blood, sweat, and tears, of the fighters spattered all over me. Needless to say I took antibiotics right after. I don’t play that ish…

We scored a pretty sweet spot on the beach. And our original room was under construction so we were upgraded to a higher floor. Things just come together for us sometimes…

To health and wealth…

Mission 5… Find Babar, ride Babar.

So we stopped at Monkey Island on this island hopping tour. I’ll give you one guess why they call it monkey island.

Safety first

In this cove was extremely calm water. Because it was almost entirely surrounded by the rocks in the background, the rough waters of the ocean do not make it inside which results in a completely flat surfaced lagoon, perfect for diving off of the side of our speedboat 🙂

“And this, young Simba, will all be yours one day…”

Mission 6… Take epic picture at the famous Maya Bay, from the movie “The Beach”. I have literally dreamed of this place for years so it was absolutely breathtaking to have my feet in the sand looking out at this view. My grandfather had a saying, “if a man can’t live like this, he should just die.”